


Taunt

by cuddlesome



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Relationships, Drabble Sequence, Explicit Language, F/M, Gen, Imprisonment, Love Confessions, Weird Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-04-24 17:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14360268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlesome/pseuds/cuddlesome
Summary: All of Rey's companions end up learning about Kylo's feelings for her thanks to Poe provoking him while he's imprisoned by the Resistance.





	1. Chapter 1

“So I gotta know. What does she see in you? Can’t be the face.” Crunch. “Is it the hair? Your hair probably looks better when it’s washed. Everybody’s hair kind of looks screwed up after a week in prison.” Crunch.

 

Poe Dameron is on guard duty, eating a Gor apple, and slowly driving Kylo Ren insane. His eye twitches with every wet bite that Poe takes, never mind all of his chattering which has been going on for the better part of an hour before he pulled out the fruit. He’s trying to hit a nerve, and with the mention of Rey he’s succeeded. Kylo shifts his weight on the stone bench he’s sitting on, then turns his head to glance at the pilot beyond the laser wall.

 

“What makes you think she sees anything in me?” He asks, breaking his unofficial oath of silence.

 

“Are you kidding? Anyone can see the eyes that you two make at each other whenever she’s assigned to guard you. Not to mention that whispering that took place during her last shift. That’s not enough for me to say she’s committing treason,” Poe’s eyes narrow and the easygoing grin he had been sporting disappears, “but it’s getting there,  _Ben_.”

 

Kylo gets to his feet and gets as close as he is able to the laser wall, forcing the shorter man to look up to meet his gaze. 

 

In a low whisper, Kylo says, “If you want your jaw to stay attached to the rest of your body, I suggest you stop talking.”

 

“It could be your bod that she likes. It looks better when you’re not curled up and sulking in the corner of your cell.” Poe gestures up and down Kylo’s body with the half-eaten fruit. “Oh, and didn’t they teach you in evil dictator school not to make threats you can’t follow through on?”

 

“Believe me,” Kylo says, fists clenching, “when I escape, ripping your face apart will be the first thing I do.”

 

Poe, unperturbed, takes another bite of his apple. “Big guy, if I were you, my first objective would be getting my mack on with my forbidden lover. But I’m romantic like that.”

 

Kylo looks away, pressing his lips together. 

 

“Are you  _blushing?_  That’s fucking adorable.” 

 

Kylo looks back, snarling. Poe throws the core at his face, causing a wet, sputtering hiss when it bounces off of the laser wall. It’s so unexpected that Kylo can’t help but flinch.

 

Poe smirks. “I’ll say hi to Rey for you.”

 

“Leave her alone.”

 

“No promises.” Poe gives a mocking two-fingered salute as he turns away. “Can’t wait for our next playdate, Supreme Leader.”


	2. Chapter 2

It’s Poe’s turn to go guard Kylo Ren again. The day before he had tried to subtly ask Rey what her deal with him is, but Poe and subtlety don’t mix very well and Rey all but shut down. The whole thing is suspicious. Part of Poe is concerned there’s some sort of mind tricking involved. After all, he knows from firsthand experience that tall, dark, and broody likes to screw with people’s brains.

 

When Poe enters the cell block, he hears Ren’s low voice. The other guard has already gone. Poe slows his pace as he nears the cell. He wishes he had brought BB-8 with him; his audio sensors could have probably picked out the words better from a distance.

 

Ren stands in the center of his cell, facing away from the laser wall, talking to himself. Poe suspects that a communication device had been smuggled in somehow, but he can’t see one. He edges close enough to hear.

 

“—really believe that I’ll get anything but a death sentence by going on trial, you’re even more naïve than I thought. If you won’t help me escape, I’m going to die here. This is what you’ve brought me to.” A pause, then Ren’s voice takes on an uncharacteristic softness. “Don’t cry. Please. Please don’t, I’m sorry. I—”

 

Ren’s head jerks to the side as he suddenly becomes aware of Poe’s presence.

 

Poe winks at him. Ren’s lip curls.

 

“Hi there. What was, uh,” Poe gestures, “all that?”

 

“None of your concern.” Ren goes to his customary corner of the cell, furthest away from Poe.

 

“I didn’t think you were in here long enough to start losing it,” Poe says, “but I guess you were already pretty unstable to start with. Really, though, you’re going to need to tell me what that little conversation was about.”

 

Ren says nothing.

 

Poe rubs his temples. It’s like talking to a bantha. A big, stupid, ugly bantha that has a penchant for murder.

 

“Right,” Poe says. “I’m going to put it more bluntly, asshole: if you’ve got a communicator in there I’m going to have to strip search you and something tells me that you won’t enjoy that. Now tell me who or what you were talking to.”

 

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you," Ren says at length. “I barely understand it myself.”

 

“Well isn't that cryptic. Try me.”

 

Ren turns up his massive nose. “No.”

 

Poe rolls his eyes. He didn’t know what he expected. He racks his brain, trying to think of something that will goad Ren into talking. The only thing he can think of is unrelated to the situation at hand, but it’s worth a shot.

 

“It wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with your girlfriend, would it?”

 

Ren’s wide shoulders tense.

 

Poe smiles. “Bingo. You’re weirdly predictable sometimes, you know that?”


	3. Chapter 3

Kylo’s relationship to Rey is none of this motormouthed pilot’s business. He hates that he gave himself away so easily; his feelings probably would have been hard to hide even if he had his mask.

 

“You wouldn’t understand,” he repeats. “It's beyond you.”

 

“You two related?” Poe asks.

 

“What? No, why would—”

 

“True love it is.”

 

“If you think that you’re going to harass me into telling you anything else, you’re wrong.”

 

“Why not? It’s worked so far.”

 

Abruptly, Poe sits down on the floor outside of the cell, leaning against the wall and sliding down until he’s in a near-lounge. Kylo watches him out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Okay, now that we’re both comfy—well, I’m comfy, you’re wearing a really grungy prison uniform—I am going to theorize about how you two lovebirds met. We’ll arrive at the truth somehow.”

 

Kylo snorts in disbelief.

 

“If I get any of the details wrong, which probably won’t happen, because I am a very perceptive guy, but just supposing,” Poe says, “you can jump in to correct me.”

 

“I’m not playing your game.”

 

As if he hadn’t heard him, Poe begins, “Right, so, once upon a time, a scavenger and a Sith lord—”

 

“I am not a Sith lord,” Kylo interjects.

 

Poe points at him and grins. “See, you’ve already got the hang of it!”

 

Kylo’s mouth snaps shut. He mentally vows not to speak again.

 

“Okay, take two: once upon a time, a scavenger and some jumped-up dark side knight… person… who plays second fiddle to some creepy old guy… would you say that’s an accurate job description?”

 

Kylo begins to imagine multiple torture scenarios for Poe, all of which start by rendering him mute.

 

“Anyway, these two meet in the Jakku desert one day.”

 

He already has that wrong.

 

“Let me set the stage: The sun is setting. The sand is all orangey. Extremely romantic.” Poe spreads his hands outward in a fanciful gesture. “Jumped-up knight guy is feeling more broody than usual after capturing an extremely handsome and charismatic pilot so he breaks off from his squadron of bucketheads to go get a drink. And on his way to the bar, he sees her. She’s on top of a sand dune, silhouetted. And he feels something, a pull, in the Force, and, more importantly, in his heart. Awww. How’s my accuracy so far, Ren?”

 

Kylo says nothing. He certainly doesn’t mention that he wouldn’t have minded meeting Rey in those circumstances rather than the reality.


	4. Chapter 4

“So the guy says, ‘Scavenger. Come have a drink with me.’ He phrases it like a command because he’s used to people doing whatever he says. But he’s in for a surprise. The scavenger doesn’t like the looks of his freaky helmet. So she says, ‘I might consider it if you take off that mask.’”

 

Poe deepens his voice and cups a hand over his mouth to imitate Kylo’s vocoder, then heightens his voice and adds a posh Coruscanti accent for his imitation of Rey. He’s not even a little accurate. Kylo becomes aware of his lips curling up into the start of a smile and forces them back into his usual pout. If Poe notices, he doesn’t say anything.

 

“He thinks about lying. He thinks about saying that the mask is instrumental to him breathing, period, or that he has horrendous scars or that this atmosphere is toxic to him.”

 

Kylo looks down. He had had almost those exact excuses bubble up in his mind when she had accused him of being a creature.

 

“He eventually decides to show his face because keeping secrets is not a good start to any relationship. So he takes the mask off, revealing a long face that only a scavenger could love. And then—”

 

At that moment, a new guard enters the detention block. Kylo recognizes him, even from down the hall: the traitor.

 

Poe leans in close to the laser wall and for once lowers his voice. “You should see the look on your face, Ren. I can’t believe it. I know that look. You’re in love with her. I don't know how, but you were talking to her just now, weren't you?”

 

Kylo goes paler than usual and glances away, unable to bear Poe’s triumphant expression. Is he really so transparent?

 

“Wow. You’re not even trying to deny it,” says Poe. “If the feeling’s mutual, it’s going to cause trouble for all of us.”

 

Kylo scoffs and says more bitterly than he intended, “Don’t worry. It isn’t.”

 

“Sounds like something somebody trying to protect his little Jedi girlfriend would say.”

 

“Or someone who has already made his feelings clear and got rejected.” Kylo isn’t sure why he says it; maybe he is attempting to protect Rey by deflecting.

 

“That too,” Poe acquiesces, then raises his voice as the traitor reaches them. “Hey, buddy. I was just having a little convo with sulky, here.”

 

The traitor doesn’t smile. He’s glaring at Kylo as if Poe isn’t even present. Kylo glares back, all too happy to have someone else to project his anger towards. Someone who isn’t aware of his greatest weakness.

 

After a moment the traitor asks Poe, “Have you had any luck getting information from him?”

 

“I know all I need to know. Remind me to tell you about a theory I have, Finn. You’re probably not going to like it, ’cause it involves your friend Rey.”

 

Now Finn finally looks at him. “What?”

 

“Ask him.” Poe points at Kylo. “He’s the one who was making goo-goo eyes during our little story time.”

 

“What the hell does that mean?” Finn asks.

 

“I think I hear BB-8 calling me, bye!”

 

Poe jogs away, waving over his shoulder. Off to go tell General Organa his discovery, no doubt. Kylo tries not to wonder what his mother would think.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day to this little drabble series because I'm feeling inspired. Fair warning that this chapter is a bit more serious than the former ones. Hopefully the tonal shift isn't too jarring. Enjoy!

Finn turns slowly to face the prisoner. He had already anticipated having a bad time today as he was taking a significant amount of the night shift on guard duty and was responsible for giving Kylo Ren his dinner. He didn’t count on the badness being amplified by the news of Rey being mixed up in something with Ren.

 

“Traitor,” Kylo Ren says in a curt greeting. “I see you survived Starkiller.”

 

In a low voice, Finn asks, “What did you do to Rey?”

 

Ren scoffs. He doesn’t even have the grace to look guilty. Had he not done anything to her after all? Poe wouldn’t joke about something this serious, would he?

 

Finn almost points his blaster at Kylo before remembering the laser wall. He settles for having it half-raised and gripping it tightly.

 

“Answer me,” Finn says.

 

“The infantry is giving orders to commanders now?” Ren asks with regal affectation.

 

The gibe makes Finn’s blood boil.

 

He throws back one of his own: “You don’t command anything here, Ren. Least of all me.”

 

Ren’s stare is cold and unmoved. There’s no sign of his infamous hair trigger temper. It’s strange, he had looked so stressed out earlier when Poe had been there. Now his face is as unreadable as his discarded mask.

 

There’s a low rumble. Finn straightens up, worried for a moment that some of the local wildlife had infiltrated the base (well, wildlife aside from the porgs). Then he realizes it’s Ren’s stomach. Truth be told, Finn had entirely forgotten about the ration packet in his pocket and the water bottle clipped to his belt meant for him.

 

“You know, I don’t think I’m in the mood to feed you,” Finn says.

 

Ren looks more well fed than any given person in the dwindling Resistance. He could probably afford to miss one meal.

 

“Starving prisoners as a form of torture is an effective method, but not one that the Resistance practices. Not under General Organa’s watch,” Ren says matter-of-factly. “Besides, you’re not cruel enough for that.”

 

“Oh, yeah?”

 

“I’m sure Rey would approve,” Ren says in a sardonic murmur.

 

“Unless you’re going to fill me in on what Poe was talking about, don’t say a word about Rey. Got it?”

 

Finn hopes that Ren hasn’t screwed with his best friend’s head. She had been so quiet about what had happened between her and Ren. Had that been by his design?

 

“Half of the base probably knows by now,” Ren says.

 

“Knows what?”

 

Ren exhales heavily through his nose, then stands and wanders over to the far wall of his cell. He folds his hands together in front of him. Finn thinks he’s ignoring him, but then he speaks.

 

“You won’t believe me.”

 

“I might surprise you.”

 

Ren turns back abruptly to face him and the words come out in a slow and steady gush.

 

“Rey and I are bonded in the Force. When I touched her mind on Starkiller, we both felt something. The wonderful, terrifying realization that destiny wanted us together since before we met.”

 

Ren begins to walk towards the laser wall. Finn stays where he is. Soon the laser wall and a few inches is all that’s separating them.

 

“While you rebels were busy escaping in your pathetic fleet,” Ren continues, “Rey and I saw each other from across the stars. She left Skywalker and came to me. I killed Snoke to save her.”

 

“Why?” Finn asks, shaking his head, unable to process all that had been revealed to him.

 

Ren tilts his head, as if Finn should have figured out the answer already. “I’ve fallen in love with her.”

 

Finn’s blood feels cold. “No. Nope. Uh-uh. You’re lying.”

 

Ren looks at him with a little curve to one side of his mouth and Finn is startled as he recognizes how much he looks like his father when he does that.

 

“I told you you wouldn’t believe me,” Ren says.

 

“You’re not capable of love. I know what you are. I’ve seen what you _do_.” Finn recalls the massacre that had happened at Tuanul at Ren’s order, the firing of Starkiller’s canon that Ren had been complacent with, hell, when he had personally hurt Rey. “If you want Rey, you only want her for her power. Stay away from her, or--”

 

“Or what?”

 

Finn is saved from having to answer by the reappearance of Poe along with BB-8 from around the corner. Poe is clapping and whistling affectedly.

 

“That’s enough, guys,” Poe says. “BB-8’s gonna fill up his memory with this soap opera at this rate.”

 

“You were recording that?” Finn asks.

 

“Yup,” Poe says, flashing two thumbs up.


	6. Chapter 6

Kylo is temporarily left without a guard. The pilot takes off with the droid and FN-2187 follows soon after.

 

He considers pressing his face directly into the laser wall of his prison. Confessing his feelings for Rey to the traitor had been delivered with the thought that no one would actually believe him if he tried to tell them. That, and the fact that he begrudgingly respected Finn (more than Poe, anyway).

 

Now his confession would be available to anyone.

 

Kylo’s new guard limps in to the detention block. She has a number of small cuts on her face and a bandage on a presumably larger one on her head. Her hair sticks out in a tuft beneath it.

 

Are they really so short of members they have to send injured personnel in to guard him? Despite her wounds, there’s defiance in the girl’s expression that reminds him a bit of Rey. He gets the distinct feeling that if not for the laser wall she would spit in his face. He sees “Rose” stitched into her jumpsuit above the breast pocket.

 

She doesn't notice the tray of discarded food Finn had left behind. Kylo decides, unfortunately for his stomach, that he's too proud to ask for it.

 

“You don’t look as scary as they say,” Rose says, looking him up and down.

 

Kylo tilts his head. He’s more than twice the girl’s size. Is she trying to reassure herself or is she as brave as his previous guards?

 

She squares her shoulders and asks abruptly, “What did you say to Finn to freak him out so much?”

 

He scared him? The thought amuses Kylo. He imagines Finn must have run up to this girl begging for her to take his shift, looking thoroughly stricken. Then he probably ran to tell Rey. Kylo’s heart sinks at that.

 

“Well?” Rose presses.

 

Kylo itches at his scar with his fingernails. Stubble on the healthy skin has started to border the sensitive, naked scar tissue and it bothers him a lot. The Resistance knows better than to give him a razor. As he scratches, he considers the girl’s question.

 

The truth can’t hurt any more than it already has. She'll learn it eventually whether he tells her or not.

 

“I told him I loved Rey,” he says as he lifts his chin to scratch at the stubble beneath it.

 

For the first time, Rose seems surprised. “Rey? As in, the last Jedi Rey?”

 

Kylo’s insides turn a bit at that phrasing. He grimaces.

 

Then Rose tells him more or less the same thing the other two had: that Rey is too good for him and will never have anything to do with him. She deviates from Poe's track, however, by making it more personal as Finn had, bringing up an anecdote about Rey. Apparently she had brought Rose a bouquet of flowers and a porg that had broken its wing while she was on her sickbed to heal alongside her. Rose looks at once pleased and embarrassed as she recounts it, a faint blush tinging her cheeks.

 

Kylo lowers his hand from the itchy spot. “If you’re in love with her, too, you may as well tell her while I’m stuck in here.”

 

Rose snaps out of her reverie. “Whoa, no, it’s not like that. She's nice. Finn cares about her a lot and I’ve started to get why. You know he was willing to abandon the whole Resistance to try and save her? You’ve got to be at least a little special for that.”

 

“I imagine you didn’t let him execute that plan.”

 

“That’s right.” She pauses. “What made you think so?”

 

Kylo huffs out a small laugh. If he’s half as obvious about his feelings for Rey as Rose’s feelings for Finn are, it’s no wonder Poe started to put the pieces together. She’d given herself away even further when he made a jibe about Rey.

 

Rose stares at him. “It’s strange that you’re acting like a real person.”

 

“I don’t have much else to do but talk with you, if that’s what you mean.”

 

“No, I mean…” Rose gestures at him with both hands. “You’re Supreme Leader of the First Order. I thought it’d be easy to hate you. You’re evil.”

 

“‘From a certain point of view,’” Kylo says, recalling a phrase his uncle had said more than once during his training. “How did you think I’d act?”

 

“I heard that you had a reputation for being crazed and angry. You just seem lonely. And… sad.” She seems as surprised as he is when she says it. "You could probably do with some time with Rey."

 

In less than a second, Kylo goes from feeling more at ease than he has in days to back on the defensive. How dare she pity him? 

 

“Your condolences mean nothing to me,” he snaps, leaning as close as he can to the laser wall. “If you’re not careful, you’ll see evidence to support my reputation.”

 

Rose’s expression hardens and she nods. “That’s more like it.”


	7. Chapter 7

BB-8 trills in distress as he is yanked back and forth between Poe and Finn.

 

Finn had caught up to Poe thanks in no small part to some shortcuts through the maze-like base that Rose showed him. The moment he saw Poe jogging alongside BB-8, he attempted to snatch the little droid up to prevent him from showing off Ren’s confession.

 

At the moment, Finn has a firmer grip on the astromech, but Poe has an edge thanks to the fact that he more regularly picks the heavy droid up in his arms. During the tug of war, the two men argue.

 

“Listen, at best the general exiles that evil prick to live out his days on a piece of rock in the Outer Rim and at worst we all laugh about it,” Poe says, scrambling to get his arm around BB-8’s sphere. “There’s no losing. I’m gonna show her the recording.”

 

“No!” Finn insists, accidentally bending BB-8’s antenna and then straightening it before clamping his hand down on the dome again. “Rey’s definitely gonna hear about it from her, and it’s—he’s—”

 

“Kinda hot if you think about it too hard?”

 

Finn makes a face at him. “‘Disturbing’ was more what I was thinking.”

 

Poe lifts one of his fingers off of BB-8 to point in acknowledgment. “Also true.”

 

Finn was thoroughly mortified by the idea of Rey ever finding out that someone as messed up as Kylo Ren entertained romantic feelings for her. The man who had tortured and killed so many in the name of the First Order and his own selfish ends. All of the thoughts that had played through his head as Ren told him of his affections plays in his head again. All the concern for his best friend’s well-being.

 

Poe’s grip on BB-8 slips. Without another person holding the droid up, the weight becomes too much for Finn. With a high shriek, BB-8 plummets downward, landing on top of one of Poe’s feet. He rolls off at once, but the damage is done.

 

“Fuck, buddy.” Poe groans through his teeth, hopping on his uninjured foot. “Don’t worry, no broken bones, but let’s dunk this in bacta sometime soon for the bruises, huh?”

 

BB-8 rolls from side to side and beeps in a fashion Finn can only assume is apologetic. Then his dome turns to look at Finn in something that translates at once to a glower despite the droid’s lack of a face.

 

Wary of being shocked and genuinely sorry for hurting Poe, Finn holds his hands up in front of him and apologizes to both of them.

 

“Maybe we should show the video to Rey,” Poe says, leaning on the wall rather than putting any weight on his foot, “so she’ll kill him herself. I imagine she’d charge right in there with her lightsaber and cut his head off just for him thinking about putting those fat lips anywhere near her.”

 

Poe seems to be thinking of particularly bitter and violent outcomes to this situation thanks to his own pain.

 

“Her lightsaber's broken, remember?

 

"Nothing like killing Kylo Ren to get her in the mood to fix it."

 

"Forget that. You can’t,” Finn says. “You can’t show her.”

 

“I don't get it. Why are you defending him?”

 

“I’m not. I’m defending her. What do you think it’d do to her head to know that someone like him wants to be with her? Someone that evil.”

 

“Finn, him getting with her is never gonna happen, so who the hell cares?”

 

Finn and Poe are so absorbed in their confrontation that they don’t notice Rey walk by, chewing on a piece of fruit leather. She doesn’t notice them, either, too intent on going to relieve Rose from her guard duty early. BB-8 notices, though, and rolls after her.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose isn’t suspicious of Rey at all. She lets her relieve her of her shift early without so much as a backwards glance. It probably had something to do with Rey’s status as a Resistance hero.

 

Rey’s insides fill with guilt as she watches Rose walk away. That guilt comes near overflowing when Rey slices into the panel alongside the main door to the detention block and locks it. It’s nothing permanent, more a temporary barrier than anything to cover things up should someone like Poe turn up early. The door being unable to open at first can be explained away as a glitch if Rey is careful.

 

With that taken care of, she goes to Ben. The tray of rations that he was meant to have had an hour ago lays on the floor.

 

Rey can’t decide whether his expression is more akin to a skittermouse’s or a ripper-raptor’s upon being faced with the food when she holds it up. Either way, it’s hungry.

 

Still, he offers to share it with her when she lets down the laser wall. She, in turn, rips the piece of fruit leather she had been chewing on in half and hands it to him. They sit cross-legged on the floor with the tray between them.

 

“This is not an ideal date,” Ben comments as he takes a solemn bite of fruit leather.

 

Rey rips into her food with more gusto. “Why not? We’re sharing a meal.”

 

A diner, a gala, a prison floor. Canto Bight. Jakku. Mustafar. As long as she isn’t alone, and particularly if that loneliness is cured by Ben, Rey is content.

 

“I think our ideas of romance are different.”

 

“Maybe so.”

 

He drops the casual pretense he had managed to maintain for all of a couple of sentences after taking a sip of water. “You know, I could kill you now and make my escape.”

 

“And prove Poe right? I don’t think so. Besides, you couldn’t even if you wanted to,” Rey says, unperturbed as she meets his eyes.

 

“Mm. You’re right, I’d rather not fight you.”

 

“Because you’d lose.”

 

“No,” he says, pettish. “Because I care about you.”

 

It is far from the first time he's said it, but it still makes Rey’s insides feel warm. She reaches out with her free hand and puts it on top of his. They lean toward each other over the tray, never breaking eye contact.

 

They are so preoccupied with looking dreamily into each others’ eyes that neither of them notice the incensed beeping on the other side of the door Rey had hot-wired to stay shut.

 

Ben sniffs audibly when he’s inches away from Rey. For a terrible moment she wonders if she didn’t use the ’fresher long enough that day and smells worse than him, a person who hasn’t been able to use a ’fresher in a week. She considers asking him if he wants to bathe with her.

 

Her initial fear is dispelled and replaced with another when he asks, “Is something burning?”

 

They both turn towards the door to see a tiny blowtorch cutting a roughly spherical hole into the durasteel. Right after they start watching, it finishes being cut and falls forward with a clang. BB-8 rolls forward with his dome rolled to the back of his body so that he can fit. His dome jerks back up to the top of the sphere once he’s in the room.

 

Rey stands and attempts to shield Ben from view by standing in front of him. It’s a vain effort; even when he’s sitting down, there’s no chance of disguising his big, muscular bulk with her body.

 

BB-8 makes a series of whistles and shrieks and wobbles from side to side as soon as he sees that the cell is open. He makes a high-pitched scream when he sees Ben himself outside of it.

 

“BB-8, shush!” Rey says, hastening to get over to the droid and crouch before him.

 

The volume of BB-8’s binary lowers, but only a fraction.

 

“Yes, I know.”

 

More beeping.

 

“He’s not escaping. That hole you cut isn’t big enough to fit his shoulders, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

 

BB-8 tilts his dome to one side and burbles a question.

 

“Yes, I let him out.”

 

The droid rolls backward a fraction, then seems to reconsider and rolls back toward Rey. He beeps in a lower, more confidential tone.

 

“A holovid?” Rey asks, brow wrinkling.

 

Ben stands up and looms behind Rey, glaring down at BB-8. He shakes his head in warning. BB-8 looks from him to Rey and back again.


	9. Chapter 9

Rey ends up finding out the information on the holovid that BB-8 had despite the droid not showing it to her, partly because it was horribly, terribly obvious to her that Ben loved her...

 

...and also because Poe and Finn, closely followed by Rose, arrive outside of the detention block and begin yelling at the top of their lungs about it, particularly Poe.

 

“God damn it, the door’s stuck.” Finn sounds like he’s on the brink of weeping out of concern for his friend. “Rey, can you hear me? All the… er… flirty stuff he says is definitely manipulative.”

 

BB-8 makes an alarmed squeak. Rey lifts an eyebrow at Ben. He shrugs, sheepish, and escorts himself back inside of his cell. Rey cleans up the remnants of the meal they’d shared, picks up the tray, and rolls BB-8 out of the way of the way of the incoming lasers with a gentle push of her foot before reactivating the wall.

 

“Yeah, don’t listen to that wastoid in there when he tells you he loves you, Rey,” Poe says. “Or when BB-8 shows you and he confirms it and--whatever happens, it’s a trick to get himself free and you probably have better taste in men than that. Rose, why did you lock this door?”

 

“What do you mean? I didn’t--”

 

“Well, whatever, just get it open.”

 

“Gee,” Rose says, “since you asked so nicely…”

 

“Rose, please open the door.”

 

“Better. Still needs work.”

 

Rey and Ben exchange glances again. Rey contemplates slicing into the door again to reopen it but decides that her excuse of it being a glitch will be played off better if she doesn’t interfere.

 

“Hello everyone,” she says instead as her friends continue to throw themselves against the door. “There’s no need to be worried on my account.”

 

Poe sounds like he’s pressed up against the durasteel, now. “Listen, Rey, demon nightmare boy is going to try and turn on the charm and you need to resist the pull of the dark side, okay? Just keep on doing your Jedi thing--”

 

“Hey, there’s a hole here,” Finn says moments before getting on his hands and knees and sticking his head through the hole that BB-8 had cut. 

 

He peers up at Rey from the awkward angle on the floor.

 

“Rey!”

 

“Finn!” Rey beams at him.

 

Ben rolls his eyes.

 

“I would give you a hug, but my arms don’t fit. Don’t panic, okay? Just… just remain calm,” Finn says, “We’re gonna get this door open.”

 

He ducks out of the hole, presumably going back to his pose alongside Poe leaning up against the door.

 

“I should be saying the same to you about panicking,” Rey says.

 

The door opens with impressive speed by Rey’s standards. Poe and Finn trip over themselves as they fall inward, with the former falling in a heap in front of BB-8 and the latter getting caught and rebalanced by Rose grabbing the back of his jacket.

 

Rey has established herself in a stance that reflects what she ought to be--Kylo Ren’s guard who definitely loathes him with every fiber of her being. Her friends seem very relieved to see this.

 

“I realized my droid was missing and went, ‘Yeah, he definitely was going to go stop any Rey-and-Kylo-Ren-related shenanigans from happening,” Poe says, scooping BB-8 up in his arms as he stands up. “And he did! Good job, buddy.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rey asks.

 

“Oh. Well, uh. Okay, so, the thing is, that filthy creature in there--” Poe nods towards the cell, earning himself a glare from its occupant “--confessed to being sweet on you. No, no, I specifically remember ‘love’ cropping up. And we were worried that you might return the feelings and elope and--”

 

“Wait, who’s this ‘we?’” Finn interjects. “I have complete faith in Rey and I didn’t even want to tell her that the scumbag was into her.”

 

“I didn’t even know any of this was going on except for the really bad explanation on the way over here,” Rose says.

 

“You shouldn’t have worried.” Rey shakes her head, then looks out of the corner of her eye at the topic of conversation with a withering glare and says, “I hate Kylo Ren.”

 

Ben’s shoulders slump.

“Oh. Huh. Good,” Poe says. “Guess I was imagining the goo-goo eyes.”

 

“Wait, just like that you’re all good?” Finn asks.

 

“Sure, I’ve never seen Rey act so ice-cold and broody boy looks absolutely crushed. I’d say there’s no fear of him escaping through her.” He sets BB-8 down with a satisfied expression and heads for the door. “Another day 

 

“Poe, has anyone ever told you you can be very chaotic?” Rose asks as she follows after him.   
  


“All the time, why?”

 

Finn follows after giving Rey a quick hug. BB-8 repairs the hole with the use of a few mechanical arms and a blowtorch. 

 

Ben and Rey are left alone.

 

Rey lets down the laser shield the minute the last of her friends are gone, steps inside, and grabs Ben’s hand. “I’m so sorry, Ben, I didn’t mean what I said.”   
  


“I know you didn’t, but it still hurt.”

 

“More importantly…” Rey scooches closer to Ben and whispers confidentially, “You love me? You’ve never said it to me before, but you told all of them?” 

 

Ben’s cheeks are burning. “I didn’t tell it to all of them, word just… got around.”

 

“You can say it to me even more once you’re done with your sentence.”

 

“Or once you break me out,” Ben says.

 

“Don’t push your luck.” Rey kisses his scarred cheek. “But I wouldn’t mind hearing love declarations from the fathier’s mouth.”

 

Ben smiles. His eyes are the color of sweetened kaff in the fluorescent light. 

 

“I love you, Rey.”

 

Rey feels warm from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She hadn’t lied to her friends when she’d dissuaded their misplaced fear for her, not really. She hates Kylo Ren, bitterly, but she adores Ben Solo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished this silly little thing just in time for the end of 2018. I hope you all enjoyed the super cheesy ending. This fic was an experiment in trying to write something more funny, fluffy, and dialogue-heavy than my usual stuff and I'm pretty pleased with it even if serious, angsty, prose-heavy stuff is my usual jam. Be sure to tell me what you think!


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